St. Croix Economic Development Corporation: Greater St. Croix Valley communities in the top 50 self-employment
7/10/2012

Ellsworth, Wisconsin (Pierce County), better known for the production of cheese curds, ranks 15th among the state’s 226 communities in an analysis of households with self-employment. An estimated 14.69 percent of Ellsworth’s households derive income through self-employment. Prescott (Pierce) is just behind Ellsworth in 16th place with 14.68 percent of its households with self-employment income.

The self-employment summary was put created by G. Scott Thomas, a correspondent for Business Journals. His July 9, 2012 On Numbers column examined just over 9,400 communities in the U.S. Thomas cited the 2010 American Community Survey from the U.S. Census Bureau as the source of his research. The study examined towns, villages, cities and census designed places with at least 1,000 households.

The village of Fox Point (Milwaukee County) is Wisconsin’s top-ranked community with self-employment income in 20.75 percent of its households.

St. Croix, Pierce, Polk, and Dunn counties comprise Wisconsin’s Greater St. Croix Valley. In addition to Ellsworth and Prescott, several other St. Croix Valley communities are ranked in the top 50. They include Osceola (Polk County) in 26th place 13.86 percent of households with self-employment), Hudson (33rd; 12.84 percent of households), Somerset (35th; 12.66 percent of households), and North Hudson (38th; 12.48 percent of households).

In nearby Minnesota, Afton is ranked 14th in the state with 18.16 percent of its households deriving self-employment income, followed by Lake Elmo (18th; 17.27 percent of households), Grant (21st; 16.67% percent of households), Scandia (26th; 15.98 percent of households), Bayport (28th; 15.82 percent of households), and Stillwater (97th; 11.78 percent of households).

Thomas wrote that self-employment is more common in California than anywhere else in the U.S. He noted that fifteen of the top 20 major cities with self-employment are in California. Thomas defined a major city as one with at least 25,000 households. Berkeley, California ranks highest with twenty-two percent of its households deriving income from self-employment. Santa Monica is second with 21.0 percent. In explaining the concentration of California cities in his analysis, Thomas said the state ranks near the top of national indexes for entrepreneurship. The state’s high employment may be a catalyst to launch businesses that lead to self-employment, too.

In addition to his regular On Numbers research, Thomas is the editor of Demographics Daily, an online newsletter that reports on demographic and economic trends, which averages over 100,000 page-views each month. He is the author of five books, including The Rating Guide to Life in America's Fifty States and The United States of Suburbia.
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